Mercado

I.

INTRODUCTION

In 2008, Victor Mercado was killed in a vehicle accident on the Interstate 880 (I- 880) freeway. Mercado’s wife and heirs (plaintiffs) sued the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for maintaining a dangerous condition of public property. (Govt. Code, § 835.)1 After a jury returned its verdict in favor of Caltrans, the trial court granted plaintiffs a new trial on the grounds that they were prejudiced by an “[i]rregularity in the proceedings” and an “[a]ccident or surprise, which ordinary prudence could not have guarded against.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 657, subds. (1), (3).) On appeal, Caltrans contends that the trial court abused its discretion by granting plaintiffs a new trial. We affirm the order on the ground of a prejudicial accident or surprise, and thus do not consider the other basis for the trial court’s ruling.

1 Unless otherwise specified, statutory references are to the Government Code.

II.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On the morning of June 26, 2008, Mercado was driving a Mack tractor-trailer Waste Management truck on I-880 in San Leandro, at an approximate speed of 55 miles per hour. That stretch of highway consists of eight lanes, with a…